Wednesday 15th June, Faceplant!

Okay so I'm nearing the end of my blog now, with just 9 days left in New Zealand and 10 till I get home. Its gone rather quick and I really don't want to come home and get a job :( So anyways in the last few days me and Ev have been up to quite a lot. After we dropped the van off we stayed in Auckland for a night of two and then we got the Kiwi Experience bus up to Paihia in the bay of islands. Paihia was a bit of a sleepy place with not much going on but as usual we made our own mischief. On our first day in Paihia we got the ferry across the bay to Russell. Russell was quaint looking but there was much to do there, so we had quick look around and hopped back on the ferry. After our uneventful trip to Russell we chilled out for a day or two before going on a day trip up to Cape Reinga. Cape Reinga is the top point of New Zealand, you can see the pacific ocean and the Tasman sea meet. So cue lots of tourist pics, at the point lighthouse and next to the sign which said how many mile we we're from London etc etc. After this we moved on to the sand dunes, this is the fun bit. At the sand dunes we went sand boarding, this was, as one would imagine, a bit sandy more so for me though. I built so much speed up as I went down the hill I slid off the front of my board and carried on sliding without it and smacked my face in the sand and swallowed about half the dune. After we had enough of sand boarding we took the coach down to 90mile beach. This is somewhat of a silly place, because one it is not 90miles long, and two, it is classed as a highway and therefore has a speed limit even tho it is a beach. It was a tad weird been sat on a coach which was driving down the beach but i have done weirder things on my trip so I got over it. On our little sand excursion we also saw the hole in the rock and caught some Pipi and ate the Pipi we caught. So after the 90 mile beach we had a quick stop for fish and chips and then made our way back to Paihia. We were in Paihia for a few more days, we did a cruise of some of the islands around Paihia and got up close to some dolphins, rather cool and that's about it. On Monday we got picked up in Paihia by some of Ev's relatives who we are staying with for a few nights, free accommodation whooo. So that's about it, I shall be seeing you all quite soon xx

Wednesday 18th June, No more space!

Space has gone. We gave our beloved van back in Auckland, it was a v.v.sad. Anyway its gone. So now we are in Auckland. Before getting to Auckland we visited a couple of other places in the van. First stop it was Waitomo to do the legendary black water rafting. This involves, abseiling 37m into a deep dark hole, traipsing around in the dark for a bit, then zipping down a wire in the dark, then the best bit standing on a ledge with a rubber ring and jumping off the ledge making sure that you land with your bum in the rubber ring. We then travelled around in the water for a bit and climbed a few waterfalls before surfacing out of a poky little hole. I enjoyed it immensely. So after our little adventure we decided to watch the England v All blacks match in the pub, this was a little embarrassing as they totally trashed us and all the kiwis in the pub were taking the mick. We tried to get tickets for the next match in Christchurch but we decided it was a bit far considering we're in Auckland (Its a totally different island). So after Waitomo we went to Raglan, the place to surf whilst in NZ, unfortunately for us the weather was gross and surfing was not an option. So that's about it, we went to Auckland after that but not without a minor incident of getting a flat battery and having to wave down a passerby in the middle of nowhere so that we could call escape to come rescue us, oops. And before you all say it, I did not leave the lights on in the van.

Thursday 12th June, Don't you dare push me!

Right so we had a complete change of plans over the last few days, we didn't do a canyon swing in Taupo as we found a better one in Rotorua however I did do the bungy jump in Taupo which is New Zealands highest water touch bungy. So it was just me for the bungy as Ev can't do it coz she has funny insides. We got to the bungy place and there was quite a few other people, so I watched a few other people jump and I admit, I was mildly horrified. Anyway finally it came around to me, I went onto the platform and they strapped my legs together and put the velcro straps on. Whilst they we're strapping me up another person was doing a jump, by this point I was very nervous, I'm gonna puke was definatly a thought going through my brain. So next it was me, I shuffled up to the edge as obviously my legs were strapped together, and I took one peer over the edge and turned to the guy and babbled I can't do it, its terrfying, don't you dare push me! The guy, who clearly had people do this all the time, turned me back around to the ledge and said you do want to do it otherwise you wouldnt have paid. He then said I'm gonna count to three and say bungy and your going to jump and make sure you smile for your picture. So I turned back around quaking in my trainers, He said one, two, three, bungy, and next thing I know I'm hurtling face first towards are rather cold looking expanse of water. Now my mother would probably have disowened my had she heard the amount of swearing I did but I didn't buy the dvd of my jump so she never has to see it lol. So thats about it, my very first bungy. We also did a few no quite so exciting things whilst in Taupo such as the craters of the moon walk, this was a 45min walk through some craters that due to theraml/volcanic activity hissed and spewed out alot of steam, sounds alot more impressive than it actually was. So after our adventurous day we moved on to Rotorua, on the way to Rotorua we stopped at Kerosene creek to sit in it. Now I know what your all thinking we've finally gone mad or that the bungy jump scambled my brains, why would we sit in a creek. Well the water was hot as it comes from a lake which has thermal activity under it. However if you sit in the actual lake you cook literally, turkey style. So after our quick dip we carried on with our journey to Rotorua. This is where it gets interesting we've had a crazy few days in Rotorua infact I've become a bit of an adrenaline junkie. So far in Rotorua we've done 'the swoop' and white water rafting on the Kaituna which is particulary interesting as it flows over one of the largest commercially rafted waterfalls in world, the 7m Okere falls. In regards to white water rafting, I won't bore you with the details it was exciting and very wet as our raft completly went under. The swoop is where you get in a bag and are winched up to a great height and then you swoop down, the one small detail we mustn't forget here though is the fact that one of us has to pull the cord to let us go! I got the wonderful task of pulling the cord, swooping was great fun but one of the best bits had to be when we saw the pictures after, Ev was pulling such a face the people behind the desk had zoomed in on her and put are large picture of it up on the screen which everyone could see. So as you can see I've been having an exciting time and I'll keep you updated.